Re: Those Nice, Nuke-Pursuing Iranians

"Margie K" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> How come the leftists don't care about Iranian or North Korean Nukes? I
> thought nuclear weapons were bad?

No, Margie, apparently ONLY the Israeli nuclear weapons are bad.

>
>
> "Dave Simpson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > The Europeans want to get tough, and scold them.  The US has agreed
> > with this.
> >
> > (Is it because Iranian nuclear missiles would threaten Europe before
> > they would threaten the USA, or because the USA remains the only
> > nation able to respond to any future crisis, for which the Europeans
> > will criticize us, and we currently are occupied in Iraq?)
> >
> > That'll make the Iranians reform, all right!
> >
> > Don't be surprised if Israel does what the West has failed to do.
> >
> > ...
> >
> > [Christian Science Monitor]
> >
> > Israel: Iran is now danger No. 1
> >
> > US, Britain, France, and Germany threatened Iran on Monday with
> > sanctions over its nuclear program.
> >
> > by Nicole Gaouette
> >
> >
> > Even as the US and European nations press Iran harder to comply with
> > international law on its nuclear program, Israel is moving ahead with
> > its own program to check its powerful Middle Eastern neighbor.
> >
> > Israel is working on a wide range of measures to undermine Iran's
> > nuclear program, with senior leaders hinting that Israel may take
> > preemptive action if that is deemed necessary. Analysts here suggest
> > that action may include a strike similar to Israel's 1981 attack on
> > Iraq's Osirak reactor.
> >
> > The Israeli initiative includes political, military, and intelligence
> > wings of government and dovetails with US efforts to contain Iran
> > within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
> >
> > The effort reflects the widespread assessment here that Iran poses a
> > greater threat than Iraq has for the past decade and is gaining
> > nuclear expertise more quickly than the US estimates.
> >
> > "Iran has a clandestine [nuclear] program that is very ambitious,"
> > says Uzi Arad, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy in
> > Herzilya. "That country thinks big and fast and ... poses a threat
> > that is very real. Should it acquire nuclear weapons or even come
> > close, it would completely alter the Middle East. It's a very ominous
> > threat."
> >
> > Analysts here argue that the prospect of a nuclear Iran would:
> >
> > * Threaten Israeli, US, and European security.
> >
> > * Harden Arab positions in any future peace negotiations.
> >
> > * Increase militancy and embolden hard-liners.
> >
> > * Destabilize the Gulf area.
> >
> > * And encourage other countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Libya, to
> > follow suit.
> >
> >
> > History of Iranian concealment
> >
> > The US, Britain, France, and Germany say that Iran has been concealing
> > nuclear research for the past 18 years in pursuit of nuclear weapons,
> > despite signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970.
> >
> > On Monday, the four nations agreed on a strongly worded IAEA
> > resolution promoted by the US that threatens the possibility of UN
> > sanctions should Iran continue to violate its agreements.
> >
> > The US charges that Iran is also developing chemical and biological
> > weapons, though the country is party to conventions curbing them.
> > Furthermore, both the US and Israel say that Iran is trying to extend
> > the range of its missiles, which could be used to develop such
> > weapons.
> >
> > Already, the 810-mile reach of Iran's Shahab-3 missile puts Israel and
> > US forces in the region in striking range. The US charges that Iran
> > will probably try to develop missiles capable of hitting Western
> > Europe or the US itself.
> >
> > Iran has admitted to concealing aspects of its atomic energy program,
> > but says it is pursuing alternate energy sources, a claim the State
> > Department dismissed as "simply not credible."
> >
> > In testimony to the US-Israeli Joint Parliamentary Committee in
> > September, State Department official Paula DeSutter said, "The impact
> > of a nuclear-armed Iran in an already volatile region cannot be
> > underestimated. As President Bush had made clear, that cannot be
> > allowed to happen."
> >
> > Israeli officials have echoed that declaration. In November, Israeli
> > media reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, on a trip to
> > Washington, told US officials that "under no circumstances would
> > Israel be able to abide by nuclear weapons in Iranian possession."
> >
> >
> > 'Existential threat' to Israel?
> >
> > Meir Dagan, director of Israel's external intelligence agency, the
> > Mossad, told a parliamentary committee this month that Iran posed an
> > "existential threat" to Israel, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth
> > newspaper. He reportedly assured committee members that Israel could
> > deal with this threat.
> >
> > Like the US, Israel estimates that Iran is three to four years away
> > from building a nuclear bomb. But Israel believes that in 2004, Iran
> > will reach the point at which their nuclear program cannot be stopped.
> >
> > On the same US trip, Mr. Mofaz told a pro-Israeli lobby group that a
> > nuclear Iran was "intolerable."
> >
> > "The implicit message of his statements was that if the Iranian
> > nuclear program is not stopped in the next number of months, Israel
> > will have to take action of its own -- perhaps even to attack -- to
> > prevent nuclear weapons from falling into Iranian hands," analyst Amir
> > Rappaport wrote in the Ma'ariv newspaper.
> >
> > It would not be the first time Israel has taken preemptive action
> > against a perceived threat. In 1981, Israeli fighter jets launched a
> > successful surprise attack on Iraq's Osirak reactor, destroying it.
> >
> >
> > A push against Iran on all fronts
> >
> > In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has upgraded
> > Israel's efforts against Iran's nuclear program by putting all related
> > committees under Mr. Dagan's command. Mr. Sharon himself will head a
> > ministerial committee.
> >
> > In this multipronged effort, Israel's foreign ministry will launch a
> > diplomatic campaign to persuade other countries to work against Iran's
> > nuclear program. The Mossad will work with foreign intelligence
> > agencies, the National Security Council will work with the US-Israeli
> > Joint Committee, and Israel's atomic energy body will focus on
> > technical aspects of Iran's program and work with the IAEA.
> >
> > Israel's concern about Iran stems from the country's proximity, its
> > longstanding hostility to Israel, and its support for groups like
> > Lebanese Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.
> >
> > While these groups launch attacks on Israel and its citizens with
> > Iranian support, some analysts here say there remains the potential
> > for direct confrontation between the nations of Iran and Israel.
> >
> > Zeev Maghen, a senior research associate at Bar Ilan University near
> > Tel Aviv who studies Iran, disagrees, but he acknowledges, "The amount
> > of hostility that has built up in the world in general, and the
> > Islamic world in particular, against my country might push someone
> > over the edge."
> >
> > "We're the pariah country," Mr. Maghen adds.
> >
> > A nuclear Iran would also erode Israel's strategic edge. Israel's
> > military, the world's 14th largest by budget, according to the Center
> > for Defense Information, is vastly superior to any of its Middle East
> > counterparts. Israel is also widely understood to have an arsenal of
> > nuclear and other weapons, though officials deny this. It is not a
> > signatory to the NPT.
> >
> > "Israel has kept an ambiguous posture about this," says Mr. Arad, "but
> > clearly, should Iran become nuclear, it would clearly be an adverse
> > development. The country supports terrorism, has taken a militant line
> > against the peace process, is hostile to the US, and is active in
> > anti-American attacks [in Iraq]. It clearly poses a very serious
> > threat to everybody."
> >
> > ...
> >
> > [Agence France-Presse]
> >
> > Israel vows to continue to study Iranian nuclear activities
> >
> >
> > Iran's arch-enemy Israel said Wednesday it would continue to carefully
> > monitor Tehran's nuclear activities after the UN's atomic watchdog
> > condemned Tehran for two decades of covert nuclear activities.
> >
> > "We are still studying this resolution but we will continue to follow
> > closely the worrying attempts by Iran to develop weapons of mass
> > destruction, as is the international community as a whole," foreign
> > ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled told AFP.
> >
> > "We will have to see if Iran reveals, or if it is revealed, what it
> > has been up to," Peled added.
> >
> > A resolution adopted Wednesday by the 35-nation board of directors of
> > the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna balanced US
> > calls to condemn Iran for 18 years of hidden nuclear activities that
> > included making plutonium and European demands that Iran be rewarded
> > for cooperating since October with the IAEA.
> >
> > The United States dropped demands to take Iran immediately before the
> > UN Security Council for "non-compliance" with the nuclear
> > Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
> >
> > However Washington secured a guarantee, considered a "trigger
> > mechanism" in the resolution, which says that if "any further Iranian
> > failures come to light, the Board of Governors would meet immediately
> > to consider ... all options at its disposal."
> >
> > Since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, Israel has come
> > to regard the Islamic fundamentalist administration in Tehran as its
> > number one enemy.
> >
> > Earlier this month, Meir Dagan, head of Israel's Mossad overseas
> > intelligence service, told MPs that Iran's nuclear programme posed the
> > biggest threat to Israel's existence since the country was created in
> > 1948.
> >
> > Dagan also said Israel had discovered in the last three months that
> > Iran was close to finishing construction of a uranium enrichment plant
> > in the central Kachan area which could eventually give it the capacity
> > to build around a dozen nuclear bombs.
> >
> > Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is personally supervising efforts to stop
> > Iran from acquiring a nuclear arsenal, Israeli army radio reported on
> > Sunday.
> >
> > A plan of action had been drawn up during a special meeting Sharon
> > convened with Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom, Defence Minister Shaoul
> > Mofaz and Mossad agents, the radio said.
> >
> > Iran on Tuesday slammed Israel's campaign to convince the world that
> > the Islamic republic is intent on acquiring a nuclear weapon.
> >
> > "The falsification of the facts and negative propaganda about Iran's
> > civilian nuclear activities are totally motivated by the hostility of
> > the Zionist regime," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi
> > said.
>
>